For over 50 years the
frontier stretched no further than Mars or Mercury. Space travel was protracted,
hazardous and expensive. The decaying civilization that had inhabited Mars was
to most people an expensive curiosity. The dinosaur infested jungles of Venus
but another wilderness for the safari hunters to exploit and the two faces of
Mercury did not offer any viable source of income for those who attempted the
enterprise.

1882 was a year of great discovery. Capt. Z. Corcoran flew
his experimental æthership "Pinafore" on the first ætheric speed run using a
revolutionary æther drive. The experiment did not go unnoticed by an alien ship
that just happened to be within scanning range. First contact with the Vulkans
opened the door to British control of the solar system.

Vulkans were one
of the many refugee races that inhabited the planetary belt that is now the
asteroid belt. The Vulkans retained some of the old technology of the forerunner
races and helped Britain to refine æther drive technology. This technology
developed a practical interplanetary transport. In the following years traffic
between the Earth and the colonies of Mars, Venus and Mercury slowly increased.

Exploration of the solar system discovered many races and civilizations.
Interplanetary commerce was now a reality. Unfortunately so was interplanetary
war. A Martian faction in league with expelled German nationalists struck out
from their territories on Phobos and started a series of on again off again wars
that have endured even to this day.

Without a guiding authority for
interstellar activities many mistakes were made early on. When the Romlians were
discovered on a moon orbiting Neptune another war was touched off due to the
assumption that they were another Vulkan outpost. Wars with the Klinkons and
Romlians were the impetus to organizing a fleet of ætherships to keep the
queen's peace between the planets of the solar system. The Royal Æther Fleet
(RAF) was established by royal decree in 1974 with the launch of the HMAS Hood.
Once the crown had sufficient æther power the Klinkon uprising was suppressed.
The Romlians were confined to an area around Neptune. A treaty, signed by hyper
luminary heliograph in 1986 established a neutral zone in Neptune's orbital
path.